Friday, August 10, 2012

We made a last minute change in plans to make a detour to Krabi before heading to Bangkok. The reason being was the bus fare to Krabi and then to Bangkok is CHEAPER than the bus fare from Hatyai to Bangkok. So why not, right? I've never been to Krabi. =)

Honestly, I wasn't enthusiastic about going to Krabi as it only delayed my meetup with my Bangkok friend but that didn't dim my curiosity about the place though. We were only staying there for a night. Besides, Rayyan has been there and he wants to revisit.

We reached Krabi at 10:30pm and some taxi drivers were waiting at the bus stop offering service that costs 400 baht. Rayyan didn't budge. He went further down the road to hail a tuk-tuk but none was in sight. A strange man came to me and said "Assalamu'aikum, kamu dari Malaysia?" which shocked me to bits. "Susah dapat transport. Sudah lewat" He said to me which meant that it's hard to find transportation as it was already late. He was a Malaysian who lives and works in Krabi. Rayyan later came to us and asked the guy to bargain with the taxi drivers to lower the price. They agreed to 200 baht.

Rayyan was still unsatisfied and waited again at the end of the street to hail an unseen tuk-tuk. I sat down with the bags feeling tired. We only ate bread with peanut butter as our breaking fast meal just now. And some meat on sticks we bought during a stop by the bus.

I was dreadfully hungry.

Soon enough a tuk-tuk appeared. Rayyan bargained the price and got 140 baht per ride! He called me to get into the tuk-tuk which I happily obliged. Then again, another problem arises, the tuk-tuk driver didn't understand our English. LOL. Rayyan wanted to go to some place called Pak Up Hostel and the driver seemed clueless! Several stops later to ask for direction, the driver finally got us to our destination safely. Phew!

And so we're now in Pak Up Hostel. A four-storey corner building amidst ugly ones. (OK, I'm not that good in describing architecture. Sorry. =p) Rayyan confidently went in and spoke to the woman at the counter in his chirpy voice of his, "Hey, you remember me? I was here 6 months ago!" I absolutely believe that the woman had not remembered whatsoever but she flashed a friendly grin anyway.

Haipp.. Rayyan, Rayyan.. can you not embarrass me please? *monolog

Registering for a room with a deposit of 100 (returned after check-out)

My room was an all-female dorm on the second floor and since it was almost full, I had the upper bunk. Which surprisingly to me was very high indeed to climb into!

My dorm was the second room on the left behind that grill. Hehe. Rayyan's room was on the third floor. *Biar dia bersenam sikit.

After refreshing ourselves and get ourselves settled in, we finally headed to the night stalls by the river, praying that it were still open. Rayyan has been feverishly telling me about those stalls and all the delicious food they have to offer. The stories only made me more hungry. Grrr! If the stalls were closed, some-one was going to have a fair beating!

The food stalls were just a downhill walk away from the hostel, very cheap and most importantly HALAL!

How did we know that it was halal? The stalls had Arabic inscriptions on their boards that read Bismillah, Allah and Muhammad. I'm pretty sure the seller is a Muslim. ^^

Suddenly out of the blue, a Thai woman in a blue apron came up to Rayyan, all excited and teary, and gave him one big hug. I was like, oh em gi! wth!

Friends united. They first met six months ago in the same spot.

She started talking excitedly in her cute broken English and despite my difficulty in understanding her, Rayyan understood her well. Haha! I was told the story of the tsunami that swept Indonesia and had washed on the river banks of Thai the badly bloated and gruesome bodies of the dead. This lady in blue volunteered in clearing the mess and cooking for the homeless during that depressing time. She chatted emotionally about the strong smell that came with the bodies and how she lived with it throughout the ordeal. I was inspired by her kindness.

Woww!!! nice trip. If you can’t decide for your next trip…Phuket is the best choice for you!!I love here Surin Beach This hotel is very nice clean and the people are friendly. VERY nice hotel with helpful staff.And I really love white sand, crystal clear waters at Surin Beach too.Thank again.